I meet Trisha’s gaze, and she dares to smirk.
I growl and throw myself at her, but before I am able to reach that treacherous bitch, I am jerked back with so much force I fall flat to my arse with a loud thud.
There’s an iron collar on my fucking throat, and my Grams is holding the leash.
She treats me like a human cattle in front of the entire court, stripping away every shred of dignity. Helplessness claws at me, and the injustice burns hotter than any shame.
“You are a disgrace, Seleste,” she chastises, and I face her, releasing the dominance I carry.
I hate her. I hate her. I hate everyone. I FUCKING HATE EVERYONE.
Seleste!
“You know,” I spit, “I HOPE YOU WILL ALL FUCKING DIE!” I scream from the bottom of my heart, unleashing the pain, anger, and the built-up resentment for their wrongdoings.
When the last word stops echoing in the throne room, I hear a loud thump, then another, then another and soon, a clatter of it.
I turn and see my friends, aunts, cousins, all of them hitting the ground.
My heart pounding, I seek my Grams, looking for an explanation, but she stands very still. Then her hand opens and the leash drops to the ground, disappearing. I search her familiar golden eyes, so much like mine, and there’s something there… sympathy.
Before I can understand why, she collapses too, her head hitting the hard floor with a sickening thud.
“Seleste!!!!!”
I sprint to her.
“Grams!!!!!” The soul-wrecking scream comes out of my heart. I drop to my knees and I grab her head from the floor. I strain my ears to listen for a breath.
Her chest doesn’t rise. She is completely still. I turn to my Grandpa, but he’s the same.
They both lie unmoving on the ground.
Everybody is down. I check one, then another, then another, then another, and another.
My cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my friends, guards, nobles.
Trisha.
“Trisha!!!” My sister. Oh my Gods. My sister.
“No, no, no, no, no!”
“Please, please, please.”
“What have I done, what have I done?”
“Gorok, please,” I scream for so long my throat is sore, then I turn my head to the windows in the naive hope that He will hear me better and undo the unspeakable crime, but the only answer is the painful silence.
I look into myself, trying to summon the cursed power, but it is resting inside me now, not bothered to even stir in response to my attempts.
“What am I going to do now? What should I do?”
I lift Trisha from the floor, and her sagging head smacks against a chair with a sharp crack. I wince at the impact, but I don’t stop.
I pull her next to Grams.
They should be together.
